Russellville’s lone starting senior Megan Hale prepares to hit a pitch during a game against Dardanelle on March 6 at M.J. Hickey Park. Hale and the Lady Cyclones hope this is the year they bring home the Class 6A state title. (THE COURIER / Kevin Hill, file)

It’s never easy to step into a leadership role. It takes time to build people’s trust and convince them they should follow you. For Russellville’s lose starting senior softball player, Megan Hale, things are that much harder being the lone senior on the field.

Despite the challenges, however, head coach Harley Sisson said he feels Hale is up to the task.

“She’s been everything you want a senior to be,” the coach explained. “The team has the utmost respect for her.”

Hale has started for Sisson’s Lady Cyclones all four years she has been eligible. She started at first base her freshman year and has played shortstop since.

“Megan’s just an unbelievable defensive player,” Sisson said. “She’s got the speed, she’s got the range. She has a strong arm and she understands the game.”

Hale said she felt that her understanding of the game was what she’s improved most in her time at Russellville.

“My knowledge of the game has improved,” she added. “I don’t feel like I’ve drastically improved my skills, but mentally I feel more confident than I did my freshman year.”

“That to me is probably the key to any athlete’s success: Understanding the game,” Sisson added. “Knowing, with the situations you get in, where to throw the ball. Over the four years she’s been with me she’s evolved into one of those girls that are a prototype. If you could go use a computer to create a softball player, it’d be Megan Hale.”

Hale started playing softball in the fourth grade and, though she played on “a little pitching-machine team that was terrible,” she stuck with it and really began to enjoy it when she started pitching. She doesn’t pitch anymore, but said there are other things that keep her interested in the game.

“I like all the people [I play with] and I like the competition,” she said. “I work hard in school, but I don’t really view it as a competition.”

Sisson said her ability on the field isn’t the only thing that makes Hale a special person.

“Not only is she a great athlete, she is just a really, really good young lady,” he said. “She’s active in the FCA [Fellowship of Christian Athletes] and with her church group. She runs team devotionals, and she’s just a really special kid.”

And Hale said she loves playing for Sisson — someone she feels is more than a coach to her.

“He’s really fun. He started playing music at practice which is nice,” she said. “I’ve known him since before I started playing. He’s almost like a second dad to me. He’s a good guy. He’s helped me with lots of stuff outside of softball.”